Information processing apparatus, file management method, and file management program

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus causes a display unit to display a save screen for saving a file to a memory under control of a CPU. When a condition to be assigned to the file is specified via the save screen, the information processing apparatus assigns the specified condition to path information of the file and causes the memory to save the file. Moreover, the information processing apparatus causes the display unit to display a seek screen for seeking and displaying the file saved to the memory under control of the CPU. When a condition of the file to be sought through the seek screen is specified, the information processing apparatus recognizes the path information of the file saved to the memory as a condition set in which the selection sequence may be changed and each condition is an arbitrary selection item, seeks an objective file corresponding to the calculation result of the condition set according to the specified condition, and causes the display unit to display the objective files as the seek result.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a filemanagement method, and a file management program for saving a file in apredetermined saving means and for displaying by seeking a file saved tothe saving means.

BACKGROUND ART

In a recent information processing apparatus such as a personal computeror the like, the number of storable files goes on increasing along withthe quest for increased memory capacity.

In such information processing apparatuses described above, a pluralityof folders (directories) saving individual files are hierarchized in atree form and mapped to manage the individual files. With respect to anewly created file, a user inputs a file name that specifies a folder asa file destination, thereby saving the new file in a predeterminedfolder. At this time, this file is managed as a series of pathinformation composed of the plurality of folder names and file namesthat are in a tree form connecting a folder corresponding to a rootdirectory to the folder in which this file is saved. To save a file,therefore, the user arbitrarily sets such a path system in advance,indicating the designation of the file, and specifies the designationaccording to contents of the file while inputting a file name by whichthe contents of the file can be guessed in many cases so that the fileis easily sought.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-99455 hasbeen proposed to facilitate file management by solving complicatedspecification of the file designation, as described above.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-99455 is one example ofrelated art.

To be more precise, a file saving device for saving the file by settingthe file designation is disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open No. 2002-99455. The file saving device creates and editsattribute information on the file, and makes the setting in a manner touse the created and edited attribute information as a file designation,thereby saving the file in the file distribution indicated by thecreated and edited attribute information according to the setting. Thatis, this file saving device directly uses the attribute information onthe file to be saved, as the file designation or the file name, therebysetting the file designations or the file names systematically tofacilitate the file management.

In the case of seeking a target file under the conventional filemanagement system based on a hierarchical structure in a tree form,folders existing between the folder corresponding to the root directoryand the folder saving the target file cannot be skipped. Therefore, inthe case of forgetting even one of the folder names existing between thefolder corresponding to the root directory and the folder saving thefile, the user is required to individually confirm the folder names evenwhere he remembers those folder names, so that this conventional filemanagement system leads to a situation where the seeking operationbecomes difficult.

Furthermore, under the conventional file management system, the usercannot extract only the files having substantially the same attribute asthat of the target file from files saved to another folder other thanthe folder saving the target file. Thus, in the case whereclassification of the folder is different from the desiredclassification for extracting the file, the user is required to checkcontents of each of the folders to seek the file corresponding to thetarget, so that this conventional file management system leads to asituation where the user is required to make enormous amounts of effort.

Furthermore, under the conventional file management system, one singlefile cannot be saved to multiple folders at the same time. Therefore,even in the case where a file corresponds to items of two or morefolders, it is required to save the file in either one of the folders orto save the plurality of files in the plurality of folders as differentfiles separately. In the latter case, the files having the samecontents, which are saved to different files, have nothing in common andare recognized as separate files.

Furthermore, under the conventional file management system, contents oftwo or more folders cannot be displayed at the same time by using asoftware program for file browsing such as Explorer for displaying thehierarchical structure of the folders. Therefore, in the case of seekingthe target file, it is required to seek the folder saving this targetfile accurately.

Yet further, a large number of organizations such as a company and thelike have introduced groupware to promote shared use of information inrecent years. Under the conventional file management system, however, itis quite difficult to standardize a tree design in the organization andthe like where the plurality of users belong since the user arbitrarilydesigns the tree. Therefore, users other than the user who saved a filehave great difficulty in finding the saved file, so that a presentsituation is such that shared use of information is impractical inreality.

As described above, the conventional file management system is bound bysuch a stereotype that a file is to be managed in a saving area such asfolders forming a hierarchical structure in a tree form, thereby havingdifficulty in managing the file in association with an increase in thenumber of files.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

This invention is accomplished in consideration of the above situation,and it is an objective of the invention to provide an informationprocessing apparatus, a file management method, and a file managementprogram capable of managing files with ease from the various viewpointsby shaking off a concept of the conventional file management based on ahierarchical structure in a tree form and by constructing a newmechanism of a file management.

According to this invention for achieving the aforementioned objects, aninformation processing apparatus includes a save screen displaycontrolling section for displaying on a display section a save screenfor saving a file to a predetermined saving section, a first conditionspecifying section for specifying a condition to be assigned to the filevia the save screen displayed on the display section, a save processingsection for assigning each condition assigned by the first conditionspecifying section to path information of the file and for saving thefile to the saving section, a seek screen display controlling sectionfor displaying on the display section a seek screen for seeking anddisplaying the file saved to the saving section, a second conditionspecifying section for specifying a condition of the file as a seekobjective via the seek screen displayed on the display section, a seekprocessing section for recognizing the path information of the filesaved to the saving section, as such a condition set as allowing aselection sequence to be changeable and as having each condition set toan arbitrary selection item, the seek processing section for seeking foran objective file corresponding to a calculation result of the conditionset based on a condition specified by the second condition specifyingsection, and a result display controlling section for displaying on thedisplay section the objective file as a seek result by the seekprocessing section.

With the information processing apparatus according to this invention,the files can be appropriately organized without forming a hierarchicalstructure in a tree shape with conventional folders as an essentialselection item which sets a selection sequence to unchangeable, byrecognizing the path information of the file as such a condition set asallowing a selection sequence to be changeable and as having eachcondition set to an arbitrary selection item, so that such the files canbe sought based on a concept such as a produce of set (intersection), aunion of set, a difference of sets, and the like, which areconventionally considered as impossible.

To be more specific, in the information processing apparatus accordingto this invention, the save screen is provided with a first keyword-onlyoperation element for specifying as a condition a keyword arbitrarilyset by a user, wherein the seek screen is provided with a secondkeyword-only operation element for specifying as a condition a keywordcorresponding to the first keyword-only operation element displayed onthe save screen, wherein the save processing section assigns as acondition a keyword registered in the first keyword-only operationelement, specified via the first condition specifying section, to thepath information of the file, and saves the file to the saving section,and wherein the seek processing section seeks the objective filecorresponding to the computation result of the condition set, based on akeyword as a condition registered in the second keyword-only operationelement, specified via the second condition specifying section.

Thus, the information processing apparatus according to this inventionenables the user to easily seek the corresponding file from amongvarious conditions based on one or more keywords arbitrarily set byhimself.

Herein, it is desirable to register a fixed keyword uninfluenced by atime factor and a movable keyword registered influenced by a time factorin both the first keyword-only operation element and the secondkeyword-only operation keyword.

In the information processing apparatus according to this invention, thesave screen is provided with a first management time-only operationelement for specifying as a condition a management time of the file,wherein the seek screen is provided with a second management time-onlyoperation element for specifying as a condition a management timecorresponding to the first management time-only operation elementdisplayed on the save screen, wherein the save processing sectionassigns as a condition a management time registered in the firstmanagement time-only operation element specified via the first conditionspecifying section, to the path information of the file, and saves thefile to the saving section, and wherein the seek processing sectionseeks the objective file corresponding to the calculation result of thecondition set, based on a management time as a condition registered inthe second management time-only operation element specified via thesecond condition specifying section. Herein, an update time of the fileis basically used as the management time.

Thus, the information processing apparatus according to this inventionenables the user to easily seek the corresponding file from amongvarious conditions based on the management time which the file itselfhas.

In the meantime, it is desirable that the first management time-onlyoperation element and the second management time-only operation elementare respectively configured with such a plurality of time division asarranged in parallel and as specifying a range of the management time.

In the information processing apparatus according to this invention,furthermore, the save screen may be provided with a deselection-onlyoperation element for specifying a condition for displaying all files asthe seek result regardless of specification of the management time bythe first management time-only operation element, wherein the saveprocessing section assigns as a condition a predetermined characterstring to the path information of the file according to selection of thedeselection-only operation element via the first condition specifyingsection, and saves the file to the saving section, and wherein the seekprocessing section seeks as the objective file a file having the pathinformation assigned with the character string, regardless of themanagement time as a condition registered in the second managementtime-only operation element, specified via the second conditionspecifying section.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus according to thisinvention, the save screen may be provided with a non-display-onlyoperation element for specifying a condition for preventing display of afile as the seek result regardless of specification of the managementtime by the first management time-only operation element, wherein thesave processing section assigns as a condition a predetermined characterstring to the path information of the file according to selection of thenon-display-only operation element via the first condition specifyingsection, and saves the file to the saving section, and wherein the seekprocessing section excludes the file having the path informationassigned with the character string from seek candidates regardless ofthe management time as a condition registered in the second managementtime-only operation element, specified via the second conditionspecifying section.

Yet further, in the information processing apparatus according to thisinvention, it is desirable that the seek screen is provided with anon-display reset operation element for redisplaying the file excludedby the seek processing section from the seek candidates based on thecharacter string assigned to the path information.

In the information processing apparatus according to this invention,furthermore, the save screen is provided with is provided with a firsttype-only operation element for specifying a type of the file as acondition, wherein the seek screen is provided with a second type-onlyoperation element for specifying as a condition a type corresponding tothe first type-only operation element displayed on the save screen,wherein the save processing section identifies as a condition anextension registered in the path information of the file based on a typeof the file registered in the first type-only operation element,specified via the first condition specifying section, and saves the fileto the saving section, and wherein the seek processing section seeks theobjective file with reference to the extension registered in the pathinformation of the file, based on a type of the file as a conditionregistered in the second type-only operation element, specified via thesecond condition specifying section.

Thus, the information processing apparatus according to this inventionenables the user to easily seek the corresponding file from amongvarious conditions based on a type of the file as well.

In the information processing apparatus according to this invention,furthermore, it is desirable that the save processing section assignsinformation indicating existence of a second file to be attached, to thepath information of the first file, and saves the first file to thesaving section while saving the second file to a specific saving area inthe saving section.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus can handle each ofsent and received emails as an independent file. In this case, theinformation processing apparatus handles each of sent and receivedemails as an independent file, saves an email file to the savingsection, and includes an email screen display controlling section fordisplaying on the display section an email screen for seeking anddisplaying the email file saved to the saving section, wherein the saveprocessing section assigns each condition specified for the email fileby the first condition specifying section, to the path information ofthe email file via the email screen displayed on the display section,and saves the email file to the saving section, and wherein the seekprocessing section seeks an objective email file corresponding to acalculation result of a condition set via the email screen displayed onthe display section, based on a condition specified by the secondcondition specifying section.

According to this invention for achieving the aforementioned objects, afile management method includes a save screen display controlling stepfor displaying on a display section a save screen for saving a file to apredetermined saving section, a first condition specifying step forspecifying a condition to be assigned to the file via the save screendisplayed on the display section, a save processing step for assigningeach condition specified at the first condition specifying step to pathinformation of the file and for saving the file to the saving section, aseek screen display controlling step for displaying on the displaysection a seek screen for seeking and displaying the file saved to thesaving section, a second condition specifying step for specifying acondition of the file as a seek objective via the seek screen displayedon the display section, a seek processing step for recognizing the pathinformation of the file saved to the saving section, as such a conditionset as allowing a selection sequence to be changeable and as having eachcondition set to an arbitrary selection item, the seek processing stepfor seeking an objective file corresponding to a calculation result ofthe condition set based on a condition specified at the second conditionspecifying step, and a result display controlling step for displaying onthe display section the objective file as a seek result at the seekprocessing step.

According to this invention for achieving the aforementioned objects, afile management program executable by a computer includes a save screendisplay controlling process for displaying on a display section a savescreen for saving a file to a predetermined saving section, a firstcondition specifying process for specifying a condition to be assignedto the file via the save screen displayed on the display section, a saveprocess for assigning each condition specified in the first conditionspecifying process to path information of the file and for saving thefile to the saving section, a seek screen display controlling processfor displaying on the display section a seek screen for seeking anddisplaying the file saved to the saving section, a second conditionspecifying process for specifying a condition of the file as a seekobjective via the seek screen displayed on the display section, a seekprocess for recognizing the path information of the file saved to thesaving section, as such a condition set as allowing a selection sequenceto be changeable and as having each condition set to an arbitraryselection item, the seek process for seeking an objective filecorresponding to a calculation result of the condition set based on acondition specified in the second condition specifying process, and aresult display controlling process for displaying on the display sectionthe objective file as a seek result in the seek process.

With the information file management method and the file managementprogram according to this invention, the files can be appropriatelyorganized without forming a hierarchical structure in a tree shape withconventional folders as an essential selection item which sets aselection sequence to unchangeable, by recognizing the path informationof the file as such a condition set as allowing a selection sequence tobe changeable and as having each condition set to an arbitrary selectionitem, so that such the files can be sought based on a concept such as aproduce of set (intersection), a union of set, a difference of sets, andthe like, which are conventionally considered as impossible.

As described above, according to this invention, the corresponding filecan be sought from among various conditions easily and accurately byshaking off a concept of conventional file management based on a fixedhierarchical structure in a tree form and by adopting a concept of acondition set to perform a file management in which the path informationis recognized as a condition set, so that the user can be provided withremarkably high convenience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a concept of a stock control and a flowcontrol;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a concept of saving information as anobject sought arbitrarily by not discarding but omitting the informationfrom management objectives;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a state of a conventional file managementsystem in which a file is saved to a folder forming a hierarchicalstructure in a tree form formed in accordance with path information, andan area saving the file is managed;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a state of the conventional filemanagement system in which a sequence of selecting the folder isunchangeable;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a state where path information isrecognized as a condition set in this invention;

FIG. 6 (a) is a view illustrating an example of a Venn diagram in thecase where each of the folders is taken as a set under the conventionalfile management system;

FIG. 6 (b) is a view illustrating an example of a Venn diagram in thecase where each of the folders is taken as a set under the filemanagement system according to this invention, in which the pathinformation is recognized as a condition set;

FIG. 7 (a) is a view illustrating such a state that the file is soughtbased on a concept of a product of sets (intersection) under the filemanagement system according to the present invention, in which the pathinformation is recognized as a condition set;

FIG. 7 (b) is a view illustrating such a state that the file is soughtbased on a concept of a union of sets under the file management systemaccording to the present invention, in which the path information isrecognized as a condition set;

FIG. 7 (C) is a view illustrating such a state that the file is soughtbased on a concept of a difference of sets under the file managementsystem of the present invention, in which the path information isrecognized as a condition set;

FIG. 8 (a) is a view illustrating such a state that a predeterminedclassification is made for the folders under the conventional filmmanagement system;

FIG. 8 (b) is a view illustrating such a state that the sameclassification is made to the folders under the film management systemaccording to the present invention, in which a concept of the conditionset is adopted;

FIG. 9 (a) is a view illustrating a state of the conventional filemanagement, in which the folders classified based on different standardshappen to exist in the same hierarchy in many cases and a personal pointof view of a person who saved the file has a great effect on theclassification sequence;

FIG. 9 (b) is a view illustrating a state of the file management systemaccording to this invention in which a concept of the condition set isadopted and the classification shown in FIG. 9 (a) is made based on thecondition set;

FIG. 10 (a) is a view illustrating a concept of a save screen under thefile management system according to the invention, in which a concept ofthe condition set is adopted;

FIG. 10 (b) is a view illustrating a concept of a seek screen under thefile management system according to the invention, in which a concept ofthe condition set is adopted;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an informationprocessing apparatus according to embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating a concept of a screen displayed on adisplay unit of the information processing apparatus;

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a specific example of a GUI as the savescreen displayed on the display unit at the time of execution of a filesaving software program by the information processing apparatus;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating a specific example of the GUI as the seekscreen displayed on the display unit at the time of execution of a filebrowser software program by the information processing apparatus; and

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a specific example of the GUI as an emailscreen displayed on the display unit at the time of execution of anemail software program by the information processing apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a specified embodiment to which the present invention isapplied is described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The embodiments are about an information processing apparatus such as apersonal computer and the like. To manage files saved to a predeterminedsaving means such as a hard disk or the like, for example, theinformation processing apparatus manages a file using a concept of acondition set to seek and display the files by shaking off aconventional concept such that the file is saved to a saving area in afolder (directory) forming a hierarchical structure in a tree form.

Problems in file management using the conventional files based on ahierarchical structure in a tree form and a concept of such a filemanagement system as newly proposed in the present invention areexplained prior to a detailed explanation of the information processingapparatus to facilitate understanding of the invention.

The conventional folder is roughly equivalent to a bag for containingmaterial goods, in which an entrance but not an exit is formed.Therefore, the goods contained in the bag basically remain inside and donot disappear automatically unless the contents are intentionallydeleted. The bag, however, has a limit to its capacity, and increase inthe goods makes it difficult to find an objective, which indicates alimit to a seeking skill of a human being. In a like manner, increase incontents of the folder makes it difficult to find a target file, whichindicates a limit to a seeking property of the information processingapparatus.

In spite of variations among individuals, it is normal in modern societyflooded with information that the amount of incoming information on thebasis of email transmission/reception only reaches fifty a day, which isconverted into twelve thousand on a yearly basis. Other than that, theamount of incoming information becomes extremely large in view of filesproduced by word-processing software in daily activities, files imagedby means of digital cameras, and the like. Correspondingly, a foldercontaining each of the folders can deal with thousands or tens ofthousands of files in association with increase in the amount of harddisks and in performance of the CPU (Central Processing Unit). Withhuman capacity, however, it depends on how to classify or name the filesbut it is difficult to seek the target file quickly from among thethousands or tens of thousands of files. Therefore, it is originallydesirable to save into a single folder around twenty to thirty files, alist of which is displayable on a screen. However, it is not realisticto classify thousands or tens of thousands of incoming files into aroundtwenty to thirty files in a single folder. Correspondingly, reducing thenumber of folders for the sake of reducing the classification work leadsto decrease in working efficiency by lengthening a seeking time period.As described above, the reason why the files are required to increase toget reorganized even after being saved to the folder and well organizedin a tree form is that there is a significant difference between theamount of incoming information and a stock (saving) management capacityof the folder.

Herein, as shown in FIG. 1, it is considered to switch a file managementfrom a stock management having no exit for information I to a flow(flowing) management that discards the information I in an amount equalto the increase of information. Under the flow management, theinformation is managed on a flow basis, thereby not requiring toperiodical organization. However, it is not easy to select theinformation to be discarded. This is because the file regarded asunnecessary is sometimes needed at a later date or because a judgmentabout the necessity of the file cannot be made at the time of creatingor receiving the file, in many cases. Furthermore, the reason why it isnot easy to select the information to be discarded is that the contentsof the file need to be judged to discard the file, thereby taking timeand effort.

To automate the aforementioned selection of the information to bediscarded, the meaning of “discarding” is viewed. As described above, itgradually becomes unnecessary to discard the information physically,that is, delete the information, because of the increase in capacity ofthe hard disk. The human capacity, however, has a limitation, therebyrequiring temporal exclusion of the information from the managedobjectives. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the information I is notphysically “discarded” but only excluded from managed objectives M, asshown in FIG. 2, thereby being saved as objective R which can bearbitrarily sought, so that the information as the objective R can bebrought in substantially the same state as that of the “discarded”information.

Herein, a method of discarding the information automatically is viewed.Time is generally cited as the information as a criterion of judgment atthe time of organizing physical documents or the like. That is, in manycases, old documents are generally unnecessary compared with newdocuments. In a like manner, the degree of freshness is important forthe information as well and the value of the information declines overtime. The time-based criterion to judge the information as unnecessary,however, depends on the information to be dealt with or dealing people,thereby rendering it unclear when the information becomes unnecessary.Furthermore, the information necessary regardless of a time elapse alsoexists.

In this regard, to set such the time to a criterion of judgment, theapplicant of this application contemplated making it possible to easilyspecify the information by time. i.e., time information, at every timeof saving the files so as to prevent display of needless files at thetime of displaying the files, by displaying only the files correspondingto the specified time. With respect to the files that are importantregardless of time, the applicant also contemplated managing only thosefiles. It is to be noted that the time mentioned above is referred to as“management time” hereinafter.

Herein, the file contains a plurality of pieces of time information suchas an update time, a creation time, and the like. According to thisinvention, the update time is basically used as the management time.According to this invention, the file is overwritten and saved to updatethe management time whereas the update time is set to a future date suchas Dec. 31, 9999 or the like to display the management time at alltimes. According to this invention, execution of only the aforementionedprocesses can result in substantially the same effect as that of thecase where the old information is automatically organized.

In the meantime, the reason why such a system crystallizing theaforementioned concept does not exist is that such a system is notsuitable for the file management using as a saving area the foldersforming a hierarchical structure in a tree form. Logically, under thefile management system thusly structured, the files are arranged inaccordance with the path information and saved. Therefore, in the caseof seeking the file under the management system thus structured as usingthe management time, a target file is extracted by seeking the folderssequentially in the order from a folder corresponding to the rootdirectory. This is because those files cannot be speedily sought nordisplayed unless those are logically arranged in the order ofhierarchical structure in a tree form, for convenience of the managementsuch that the saving area for the files are managed based on the treestructure.

According to this invention, such the conventional concept is wiped off,that the saving area for the files is managed based on the treestructure, and the files are managed using a concept of a condition setin order to realize such a system as unifying the management by means ofa flow. The file management system as proposed in the present inventionwill be described hereinafter.

The file management system proposed in this invention can seek thecorresponding file from among various conditions by managing conditionsincluded in or assigned to the files in a manner similar to a database.

Herein, the condition included in the file itself is so-called propertyinformation. The property information is composed of five pieces ofbasic information such as a file name, a saving area, a file type, afile size, and an update time or a creation time, and every file hasthose pieces of basic information. The target file, however, cannot beeasily found even where those pieces of basic information are put in adatabase as conditions, unless the basic information can reflect thecondition that the user desires to assign arbitrarily.

According to this invention, therefore, the path information of the fileis used to render the basic information to be reflective of theconditions that the user desires to assign arbitrarily.

Locations of all of the files and folders are specified by the pathinformation. This is because the file cannot be executed unless thesaving area for the file is specified. Under the conventional filemanagement system, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the file is saved tothe folder forming a hierarchical structure in a tree form formed inaccordance with the path information, in which the saving area savingthe file is managed.

Herein, in the hierarchical structure in a tree form, it is to be notedthat a midway condition (folder) is defined as an essential selectioncondition that does not allow a selection sequence to be changed. Thatis, under the conventional file management system based on thehierarchical structure in a tree form, as shown in FIG. 4, for example,on the condition that such the hierarchical structure as composed offolder “A”\ folder “B”\ folder “C”\ text file “D” is formed, thesequence of selecting the folder cannot be changed to reach the targettext file “D” in a manner to omit selection of the folders “A”, “B”existing midway between a folder corresponding to a root directory andthe folder “C” saving the text file “D” or to select the folder “C”first and then the folder “B” at a higher level in the hierarchy.

In the meantime, there is an exception such as a shortcut to the filemanagement system based on the hierarchical structure in a tree formincapable of changing the selection sequence. The shortcut is to reachthe target file by skipping the midway folders as the essentialselection conditions to reach the target file. For example, in the caseof using a shortcut to the folder “B” as shown in FIG. 4, selection ofthe folder “A” as a condition to reach the text file “D” can be omitted.Therefore, the sequence of selecting the folders at a lower level thanthe folder “B” in the hierarchy cannot be changed but selection of oneessential selection condition can be omitted.

Correspondingly, it is contemplated to omit selection of the folders ata lower level than the specific folder in the hierarchy. Noted herein isstationery such as a so-called clear folder. The clear folder enablesthe file contents inside the folder to be browsed without requiring thefolder to be opened. This invention adopts a concept of the clearfolder, thereby enabling file seeking as described hereinafter, which isconventionally not performable.

In using a conventional software program as a file browser such asso-called Explorer, unless the folder saving the target file isselected, the target file is hidden behind the folder, thereby not beingable to be displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 4, for example, thetext file “D” cannot be browsed unless the folder “C” is selected.Therefore, in the case where two or more folders exist at a lower levelthan the folder “B” in the hierarchy and the user or the like forgets inwhich folder the target file is saved, those folders in which the targetfile could be saved need to be confirmed individually.

Therefore, this invention provides a GUI (Graphical User Interface) as afunction capable of browsing the file contents in the folder withoutrequiring the folder to be open like the clear folder so that thefolders at a lower level of the arbitrary file in the hierarchy are notdisplayed but only files inside those non-displayed folders aredisplayed. For example, in the example previously shown in FIG. 3, sixfiles “D1” “D2”, “D3”, “D4”, “D5”, and “D6” saved to folders “C1” and“C2” at a lower level than folder “B1” can be displayed withoutdisplaying the “C1” and “C2” by using the clear-file function at thatstage of selecting the folder “B1”. As described above, in thisinvention, by using the clear-file function, a condition can be soughtfrom a wide range without confirming the plurality of foldersindividually even though the number of displayed files increases.

Furthermore, it is considered to omit the folders existing midway and tochange arbitrarily the sequence of selecting the folders. The applicantof this application found out that the folders existing midway can beset to an arbitrary selection condition, which allows a selectionsequence to be changed without processing the conventional pathinformation.

That is, the path information is recognized as a condition set in thisinvention. To be more specific, in the case of the hierarchicalstructure composed of folder “A”\ folder “B”\ folder “C”\ text file “D”,for example, the path information is read as information indicating acondition set, thereby being recognized as “the “text file “D”satisfying condition “A”, condition “B”, and condition “C”(A∩B∩C=D.txt)” as shown in FIG. 5, unlike the conventional filemanagement system in which the path information is recognized as “thetext file “D” in the folder “C” in the folder “B” in the folder “A”(A→B→C→D.txt)” as shown in FIG. 4. In other words, according to thisinvention, the path information is recognized as a condition set inwhich the selection sequence is changeable and each condition is anarbitrary selection condition, not as a saving area in which theselection sequence is unchangeable and each condition is defined as anessential selection condition.

As described above, the path information is recognized as a conditionset, so that an element \ . . . \ composing the path delimited by adelimiter \ does not have the information indicating the saving areasuch as a folder. Thus, according to this invention, a keyword or thelike as a seek condition can be registered as the path information.

In this invention in which the path information is recognized as acondition set, it is to be noted that the conventional file can be useddirectly in accordance with a new recognition method, without adding anynew items to the property information included in the existing file norinterfering with specification of a saving area for the file. Thus, allof the files can be directly recognized as a condition set in thisinvention.

Herein, a condition set is viewed.

Each folder can be regarded as one type of condition sets as well underthe conventional file management system based on the hierarchicalstructure in a tree form. For example, under the file management system,in the case where there exist two folders, “B1” and “B2”, as sub-foldersof the folder “A”, there exists folder “C1” as a sub-folder of the “B1”and there exist two folders, “C2” and “C3”, as sub-folders of the folder“B2”, those folders can be figured by a Venn diagram as shown in FIG. 6(a) on the condition that each folder is regarded as a condition set.Under the file management system as described above, however, jumpingfrom the folder “A” as an outermost condition set to the folders “B1”and “B2”, and the folders “C1”, “C2”, and “C3” as an inner condition setcontained in the folder “A” is set to an essential selection condition,while overlap among the condition sets is not permitted and furthermore,the target file cannot be displayed unless the folder saving this targetfile is selected.

On the other hand, under the file management system recognizing the pathinformation as a condition set, in the case where there exist threeconditions “A”, “B”, and “C”, for example, those folders can beexpressed by a Venn diagram as shown in FIG. 6 (b), allowing overlapamong the condition sets on the condition that each folder is regardedas a condition set, and each folder can be set to such an arbitraryselection condition in the condition set, allowing the selectionsequence to be changeable. Furthermore, by adopting a concept of acondition set, the aforementioned file management system can seek thefile based on concepts such as, e.g., product of sets (intersection) asshown in FIG. 7 (a), union of sets as shown in FIG. 7 (b), anddifference of sets as shown in FIG. 7 (C).

In summary, the merits brought by application of the condition set areas follows.

The first merit is that the sequence of selecting the conditions ischangeable. The sequence of selecting the conditions can be changed byrecognizing the path information as a condition set. Under theconventional file management system, according to the nature of thehierarchical structure in a tree form, there has been no choice but tomanage the files by assigning the sequence even to such folderclassification in which the sequence is originally not decided. On theother hand, the file management system applying the concept of acondition set can seek the target file by narrowing the condition in anarbitrary sequence, thereby being able to seek the file based on acondition corresponding to needs at different times.

The second merit is that the conditions can be arbitrarily selected.Under the conventional file management system, the folder in the path isan essential selection condition, and the target folder cannot bespecified in the case where even a single item existing midway isforgotten, even where the other items are remembered. Therefore, underthe conventional file system, by increasing the number of foldersindiscriminately, the number of candidate folders having the possibilityof saving the target folder or the number of folders to be selected bythe time of specifying the target file is increased, so that increase inthe number of folders results in hindrance to the file seekingoperation. Under the conventional management file, furthermore, in thecase where the number of files saved to the single folder is increasedinstead of increasing the number of folders to avoid the aforementionedsituation, the distinction between the files tends to be inadequate,thereby requiring a lot of time to find the target file. On the otherhand, the file management system adopting a concept of a condition set,the path information is recognized as a condition set, thereby beingable to arbitrarily make a determination as to whether the condition isused at the time of seeking, so that segmentalization of the conditiondoes not result in hindrance to the file seeking operation. Thus, underthis file management system, a condition which could not be assignedconventionally can be assigned, thereby being able to seek the file fromthe various viewpoints, remarkably improving seek accuracy and speed.

Furthermore, the third merit is that the file can be saved to theplurality of conditions. Under the conventional file management system,the single file cannot be saved to the plurality of folders at the sametime. Under the conventional file management system, therefore, wherethe file needs to be saved to the plurality of areas requiring branchingof the path, it is necessary to save the file to any one of the foldersor to save the plurality of files as different types in the plurality offolders, separately. Under the conventional file management system, inthe former case, it is necessary to detect the target file from amongthe plurality of folders in which the file can be saved, whereas in thelater case, since the files have nothing in common, all of the filesneed to be updated individually in the case of updating the fileinformation. On the other hand, under the file management systemadopting a concept of a condition set, substantially the same effect canbe easily obtained as that of the case where the same files are saved tothe plurality of folders at the same time, and further updating of theinformation can be reflected even in the case of performing the seekingoperation based on all of the conditions since there is a singleoriginal file.

Yet further, the fourth merit is that the number of necessary conditionsis remarkably reduced in the case where the same classification is madeto the folders (conditions). Where each of three elements is classifiedinto three types, for example, the folder sequence cannot be changedunder the conventional file management system, thereby requiringclassification into 3×3×3=27 folders, as shown in FIG. 8 (a). On theother hand, the file management system adopting a concept of a conditionset enables substantially the same classification with 3+3+3=9conditions, as shown in FIG. 8 (B). Additionally, since the midwayfolder can save the file under the conventional file management system,so that there are 1+3+9+27=40 patterns of saving area whereas there arelogically 1+9+36+84+126+126+84+36+9+1=512 patterns of saving methodunder the file management system adopting a concept of a condition.

The fifth merit is that the management can be performed such that, in acondition that the folders can be freely placed, the folders are notmanaged based on a hierarchical structure in a forced manner. Under theconventional file management system, a case is frequently causedwheresuch folders exist at the same level in the hierarchy, as classifiedbased on different criteria since the folders are managed only based ona depth from the root folder in the hierarchy, thereby leading to acontradiction or an overlap at the time of determination of the savingarea for the file. Under the conventional file management system,furthermore, the classification sequence strongly reflects a personalpoint of view of a creator of a tree, i.e., a person who saved the file,and further, it is impossible to display the criteria of classifying thefolders in accordance with the tree, so that a third party other thanthe person who saved the file has difficulty in seeking the specificfile. To be more specific, as shown in FIG. 9 (a), the folder “template”classified as a folder expressing genres of files, and the folders“company A” and “company B” classified according to customer's names arenot supposed to be placed in the same level in a hierarchy since thesefolders are classified based on different criteria. Furthermore, itdepends on a personal point of view of a person who classifies thefolders whether the folder “accessory” for saving files concerningaccessories is dealt at the same or a lower level compared with thefolders “TV” and “VCR” for saving the files regarding main devices thatare not accessories.

On the other hand, under the file management system adopting a conceptof a condition set, the folders are freely placed, and further thecriteria for folder classification of the files can be displayed and thefiles can be managed with the criteria as new conditions, thereby hardlycausing such a contradiction or the overlap as caused under theconventional file management system. The conventional file managementsystem, furthermore, manages the files in a saving area of a folderforming the hierarchical structure in a tree form, thereby basicallyresulting in one pattern of method of displaying the files, whereas thefile management system adopting a concept of a condition set enablesfree design or change of a condition display area, such as non-displayof the midway condition or change of the placement sequence, which wasconventionally impractical. Thus, under the file management systemadopting a concept of a condition set, the user can seek the file byusing an interface that he designed for himself. To be more specific, inthe case of classification based on the condition set as shown in FIG. 9(a), a hierarchy can be freely changed based on classification criteriaas shown in FIG. 9 (b), thereby being able to display the classificationcriteria. Furthermore, the file management system adopting a concept ofa condition set requires only classification and the classificationsequence becomes irrelevant, so that a personal point of view of theperson who classifies the folders is hardly reflected. Additionally,under the file management system adopting a concept of a condition set,the condition is arbitrarily selected, allows the selection sequence tobe freely decided, and is selected based on not a saving area but acombination, so that the number of conditions can be reduced comparedwith the conventional file management system.

Under the file management system adopting a concept of a condition set,the user decides on keywords to be registered as a condition and assignsthe desired keywords through a save screen having buttons or the likearranged therein, for specifying keywords as shown in FIG. 10 (a), atthe time of saving the file, so that the information having the keywordsregistered therein as the path information is created as the informationfor specifying the file. Described herein is a state where threekeywords A, C, and F are specified. At this time, the aforementionedmanagement time may be registered as one part of the path informationunder the file management system. On the other hand, at the time ofseeking the file under this file management system, the user seeks thefile by specifying the desired keywords, time, and the like through aseek screen having buttons or the like arranged thereto, for specifyingthe keywords as shown in FIG. 10 (b). Under the file management system,conditions are arbitrarily assigned, and only the file name isnecessarily assigned. In this case, the file can be sought based on themanagement time, the file type, and the file name.

An information processing apparatus to which the file management systemadopting a concept of the aforementioned condition set is concretelyapplied is described hereinafter.

The information processing apparatus enables seeking of the file byexecuting a condition seek based on a condition set. Herein, thedifference between the “condition seek” and the “seek” is contemplated.

First, in the existing “seek” operation, a determination is made as towhether the file name or the property information contains the specifiedword, and the objective containing the word is displayed as a result.That is, the existing “seek” operation does not manage word registryitself in the objective file but adopts a method of seeking unilaterallyfor the objective file, by which the file is sought based on such a“character string” contained therein as desired to be sought, not on the“seek word (keyword)”, thereby undesirably picking up even theunnecessary information. The conventional system performing the existing“seek”, therefore, cannot obtain accuracy necessary for the filemanagement, and usually seeks the desired file by using the folders in atree form while using the “seek” operation only where the file cannot befound.

On the other hand, since the “condition seek” operation manages thefiles based on “the seek word” as a condition, not just on “thecharacter string” from the time of registry, the candidate informationis previously decided, so that the information not corresponding to thecondition is not picked up, thereby resulting in perfect accuracynecessary for the file management. For example, at the time ofregistering the seek word with the information processing apparatus asdescribed below, unusable forbidden characters such as “\” and the likeare previously defined to clarify a range of the keywords by sandwichingthe seek word between the forbidden characters, i.e., “\keyword\”, forexample. Thus, the information processing apparatus can make the seekresults for other keywords which contain the keyword as a characterstring not be displayed by performing the condition seek for each of theforbidden characters. Specifically, in the case of setting the keyword“ABC” to the seek word in the information processing apparatus, where awild card is set to “*”, a range of “*\ABC\*” is handled as a singlecondition, so that even where another keyword including “ABC”, such asthe keyword “EFABC” exists, the seek result for this keyword isdisplayed. As described above, the “condition seek” operation caneliminate noise in the seek result, whereas inversely, enabling such usethat the seek result containing the keyword is eliminated at practicallevels.

Moreover, in the existing “seek” operation, it is necessary to assumethe appropriate word to be selected, and the target file cannot bedetected where the file does not correspond to the word. On the otherhand, in the “condition seek” operation, since the candidates arepreviously displayed, the above word is selected from among these files.Furthermore, the existing “seek” operation requires time to check all ofthe conditions, whereas the “condition seek” operation is performedbased on only the already-determined conditions, thereby being able tobe terminated in a shorter time than the existing “seek” operation.

As described above, the “seek” and the “condition seek” are regarded asdifferent concepts.

The information processing apparatus performs the “condition seek”operation having characteristics superior to the existing “seek”operation. To be more specific, the information processing apparatusincludes, as shown in FIG. 11, a CPU 11 for totally controlling eachunit, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 for reading and storing various kindsof information, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13 functioning as a workarea, a memory 14 for storing in a reading-out and/or writing-in mannervarious kinds of information such as software programs for realizing thefile management system adopting a concept of a condition set, or thefiles, a communication unit 15 for conducting communication byconnecting to external networks, an input operation controller 16 forprocessing and controlling the input operation made through apredetermined operation device, not shown, and a display unit 17 fordisplaying various kinds of information, and those units are eachconnected to a bus 20.

The CPU 11 completely controls each unit upon execution of each ofvarious software programs recorded in the ROM 12.

The ROM 12 stores various kinds of information such as various programs.The information stored in the ROM 12 is read out under control of theCPU 11.

The RAM 13 functions as a work area at the time of execution of thesoftware program by the CPU 11, temporally stores various kinds ofinformation under control of the CPU 11, and reads out various kinds ofstored information.

The memory 14 stores under control of the CPU 11, various kinds ofinformation such as, e.g., software programs for realizing the filemanagement system adopting a concept of a condition set, various files,and the like while reading out various kinds of stored information. Asthe memory 14, for example, a hard disk, a nonvolatile memory, or thelike can be used. The memory 14 includes a drive device for reading outand/or writing in various kinds of information with respect to a memorymedia such as a flexible disk, a memory card, and the like, which aredetachably attachable to the main device.

The communication unit 15 is an interface for connecting to an analogueline, a LAN (Local Area Network) composed of a so-called Ethernet®, andthe like, various network lines such as an ISDN (Integrated ServicesDigital Network), an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), or anFTTH (Fiber To The Home), various wireless communication systems such asa wireless LAN based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers) 802.11 or a so-called Bluetooth®, or a network based onvarious systems such as a W-CDMA (Wideband-Code Division MultipleAccess) system such as a FOMA® or a CDMA-2000 system such as an HDR(High Date Rate). The communication unit 15 conducts communication to anexternal unit, under control of the CPU11.

The input operation controller 16 accepts the input operation throughpredetermined operation devices, not shown, such as a keyboard, a mouse,a keypad, an infrared remote controller, stick keys, push buttons, andthe like, and supplies the CPU 11 with a control signal indicatingoperation contents.

The display unit 17 is defined as various display devices such as aLiquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Plasma Display Panel (PDP), an OrganicElectroLuminescent) display, a Cathode Ray Tube, and the like, anddisplays various image files, other kinds of information, and the like,under control of the CPU 11. For example, the display unit 17 displayson the display screen the save screen for saving the file, the seekscreen for seeking and displaying the saved file, the GUI at the time ofexecution of the various application software programs.

The information processing apparatus having those units can execute withthe CPU 11, various application software programs that can realize theconvenience caused by the file management system adopting a concept of acondition set.

It goes without saying that the information processing apparatus canmanage the file by using only the file management system adopting aconcept of a condition set but assumed herein is coexistence of thisfile management system and the existing file management system whichuses the folders forming a hierarchical structure in a tree form.

That is, in the information processing apparatus, by creating apartition, the memory 14 is divided into a drive adopting the existingfile management system and a drive for saving and seeking the filesbased on the file management system adopting a concept of a conditionset. Herein, the latter driver is referred to as an I (Information)drive. Thus, the information processing apparatus can benefit from thisinvention while storing system files or the like in the drive adoptingthe existing file management system, such as C drive or the like. In thecase of selecting the I drive through a file browsing screen 21 such asthe existing Explorer as shown in a left side of FIG. 12, theinformation processing apparatus displays the seek screen 22 aspreviously shown in FIG. 10 (b) on the display unit 17, as shown in aright side of FIG. 12. At this time, the information processingapparatus displays on the display unit 17 a screen 23 for displaying atree view of the drives together with the seek display 22, thereby beingable to swap the files between the I drive and the other drives. Herein,in the case of moving the file stored in the I drive to another drive,the information processing apparatus can move or copy the file which wassought and displayed through the seek screen 22, by dragging anddropping an icon indicating the desired drive using the mouse or thelike. On the other hand, in the case of moving the file stored inanother drive to the I drive or saving the created file, the informationprocessing apparatus displays on the display unit 17 the save screensuch as previously shown in FIG. 10 (a), instead of the seek screen 22,thereby being able to save the file upon assignment of the keywords orthe like as a condition.

A specific example of the save screen for saving the file and the seekscreen for seeking and displaying the saved file will be explainedhereinafter.

The save screen is explained first.

Where the target file cannot be found, most users using the informationprocessing apparatus adopting the existing file management system areforced to an operation to confirm the folders individually, thinkingabout “which folder is the file saved to?”. The applicant of thisapplication, however, thinks that in the aforementioned case, the fileshould be sought based on the properties of the file such as “when andby what software the file is created” and “what the file name is.” Tocrystallize this thought, the information processing apparatus executesthe predetermined software program for saving the file by the CPU 11,thereby displaying on the display unit 17 the GUI as the save screen,such as shown in FIG. 13. That is, the information processing apparatusdisplays on the display unit 17 the GUI that visualizes functions forspecifying various conditions.

To be more specific, the save screen is provided with program buttons 51corresponding to various application programs stored in the informationprocessing apparatus so as to select a type of file as a condition. Theprogram buttons 51 are composed of a plurality of buttons that areformed corresponding to word processing software such as Word andspreadsheet software such as Excel provided by Microsoft® Corporation.The program buttons 51 are formed mainly to narrow down the seekobjectives based on a file type and to activate the program itself.

To be more specific, by a single-click using the mouse or the like inthe information processing apparatus, each of program buttons 51 isselectable and such an extension is specified, as registered at arightmost end of the path information of the file to be saved.Furthermore, the information processing apparatus cancels selection byanother single-click of the selected program button 51. At this time, inthe information processing apparatus, only the program button 51 that issingle-clicked last is basically regarded as a selected button, and asingle-click of another program button cancels selection of thepreviously selected program button. Furthermore, in the informationprocessing apparatus, each program button 51 is provided with a launcherfunction to activate the corresponding application program according toa double-click of the button. Thus, the information processing apparatuscan start creation of the new file through the program buttons 51. Inthe meantime, with respect to an email button 51 a, an email applicationprogram is activated according to a single-click to display an emailscreen to be described later on the display unit 17. Furthermore, withthe information processing apparatus, the extensions that the user seeksfor each of the program buttons 51 can be customized. It is to be notedthat the aforementioned program buttons 51 may be registeredautomaticallywith respect to all application programs executable by theinformation processing apparatus or may be arbitrarily registered by theuser in a manner similar to a shortcut-creating operation.

Furthermore, the save screen is provided with time-period specifyingbuttons for narrowing down the files as the seek objective based on atime period by selecting a time condition of the file. The time-periodspecifying button 52 is composed of a daily-basis time-period specifyingbutton 52 a for specifying the management time based on a day, such as“today”, “yesterday”, “the day before yesterday”, and the like, aweekly-basis time-period specifying button 52 b for specifying a rangeof the management time based on a week, such as “this week”, “last week”“the week before last”, and the like, a monthly-basis time-periodspecifying button 52 c for specifying a range of the management timebased on a month, such as “this month”, “last month”, “the month beforelast”, and the like, and a yearly-basis time-period specifying button 52d for specifying a range of the management time based on a year, such as“this year”, “last year”, “the year before last”, and the like, whichare all formed in parallel. A time division can be arbitrarily setwithout being limited to the manner shown in FIG. 13, but is desirableto be made not only with units of days but also with units of weeks,months, and years, such as “a week” or “a month” in FIG. 13. This isbecause, in real life, the date “seven days ago” is remembered more as“last week” and the date “thirty-five days ago” is remembered as “lastmonth”

With the information processing apparatus, the time-period specifyingbutton 52 can be selected by a single-click, and the aforementionedmanagement time is registered in the path information of the file to besaved, i.e., “\2004/1/1\˜”. With the information processing apparatus,the selected time-period specifying button 52 is single-clicked onceagain to cancel the selection thereof. At this time, in the informationprocessing apparatus, only the time-period specifying button 52 that issingle-clicked last is basically regarded as a selected button, and asingle-click of another time-specifying button cancels selection of thepreviously selected time-specifying button. Furthermore, with theinformation processing apparatus, the plurality of time-periodspecifying buttons 52 formed in a parallel manner are dragged to specifythe desired time period easily and speedily, thereby being able toselect a range by being dragged in this manner. Furthermore, with theinformation processing apparatus, the predetermined key such as a shiftkey is pushed while two arbitrary time-period specifying buttons 52 aresingle-clicked, so that a range of two time periods that were selectedin this manner can be selected. Yet further, with the informationprocessing apparatus, the predetermined key such as a control key ispushed while the plurality of time-period specifying buttons 52 aresingle-clicked, so that the plurality of time periods can be selectedeven where those periods are not consecutive. Furthermore, with theinformation processing apparatus, the predetermined key such as an Altkey is pushed while one or more arbitrary time-period specifying buttons52 are single-clicked, so that the selection can be made in a manner notto include the selected time period as the management time, for example,to omit only today from this week.

Herein, as described above, with the information processing apparatus,the management time is basically set to the same date as the updatetime, but can be changeable freely for convenience of management. Forexample, where the management time of another file that belongs to thesame group is one year earlier compared with the file, it is presumedthat those files are difficult to be handled together in this state, sothat the information processing apparatus can set the management time ofthe file to the same as (or close to) that of the other file by hand.Furthermore, the information processing apparatus can use the creationtime of the file as the management time or can re-register the presenttime as the management time.

The information processing apparatus can manage the keywords as acondition to be registered in the path information, but the managementtime of this keyword is set to the most recent time among times in thefile having the keyword whereas the creation time of this keyword is setto the oldest time among times in the file having the keyword. Thosetimes are referenced at the time of saving the file or changing thekeyword and are changed if needed. Therefore, the information processingapparatus can always manage a time period range of the file having thekeyword and only the files of an objective time period are required tobe changed at the time of changing or deleting the file name.

Furthermore, the save screen is provided with a time-periodspecification deselection button 53 as a special button utilizing themanagement time. The time-period specification deselection button 53 isformed to classify the important files as having importance that isunchangeable over time so as to save and seek those files. Specifically,the information processing apparatus displays as the seek results, allof the files that were registered in accordance with selection of thetime-period specification deselection button 53, regardless of theaforementioned time-period specifying button and the management time, inthe seeking operation. Therefore, it is convenient to previouslyregister in the information processing apparatus by means of thetime-period specification deselection button 53, the highly importantfiles which are rarely updated, such as an address book, a fee schedule,an operation guide, a template, and the like.

To be more specific, in the information processing apparatus, thetime-period specification deselection button 53 can be selected by asingle-click, and “A” is assigned at the front of the management time inthe path information of the file to be saved, for example,“I:\A2004/1/1\˜”. This assignment has a meaning roughly equal to settingthe update time to a future time such as Dec. 31, 9999. Therefore, theinformation processing apparatus sets the management times of the filesto a future time compared with the files having the normal managementtime, thereby being able to select and display the files having thefuture management times by separating those files from the files havingthe normal management time. The information processing apparatus managesfixed keywords to be described later by assigning “A” at the front ofthe management time in a similar manner. Furthermore, the informationprocessing apparatus cancels selection by another single-click of thepreviously selected time-period specify deselection button 53. Yetfurther, the information processing apparatus fixes selection by adouble-click of the time-period specify deselection button 53, whilecanceling selection by another single-click thereof.

The save screen is provided with a non-display button 54 and anon-display reset button 55 as a special button that utilizes themanagement time. The non-display button 54 is formed to register thefiles, display of which is considered as unnecessary in the seekingoperation, thereby enabling exclusion of the files from the candidatefiles to be sought. On the other hand, the non-display reset button 55is used to display again in the seeking operation the files that wereregistered once as a non-display file. A function by the non-displaybutton 54 and non-display reset button 55 is different from theconventional trash box in that even the files defined as a non-displayfile can be managed and selectively displayed based on the keywords orthe time period and that the files can be sought together with thenormal files even where the user do not know whether the file was set tothe non-display file.

To be more specific, in the information processing apparatus, thenon-display button 54 and the non-display reset button 55 can beselected by a single-click. The information processing apparatus assignsthe aforementioned forbidden character “\” after the management time inthe path information of the file to be saved in the case of selection ofthe non-display button 54. Therefore, the information processingapparatus can prevent only the specific files from being displayed byextracting the files which have the path information containing “\ \”and by setting those extracted files to a non-display file. Furthermore,with the information processing apparatus, the prohibition process isset to a registration condition, thereby eliminating the possibilitythat the information indicating a non-display state as described aboveis confused with a keyword or a file name. At this time, the informationprocessing apparatus does not change the management time, thereby beingable to utilize the management information before selection of thenon-display state, at the time of resetting the non-display state thoughthe non-display reset button 55. Furthermore, in the informationprocessing apparatus, the selected non-display button 54 and thenon-display reset button 55 are single-clicked once more to cancel theselection thereof. Therefore, in the information processing apparatus,since the management time information remains without change, selectioncan be immediately made using the time-period specifying button byselecting the non-display reset button 55 with respect to the fileregistered as the non-display file. Furthermore, the informationprocessing apparatus fixes selection of the non-display button 54 andthe non-display reset button 55 by a double-click thereof whilecanceling the fixed selection thereof by another single-click thereof.

The save screen is provided with a keyword selection button 56. Thekeyword selection button 56 is formed to narrow down the files as a seekobjective based on a keyword arbitrarily set by the user.

To be more specific, with information processing apparatus, the userarbitrarily registers a keyword in advance as the keyword selectionbutton 56. In the information processing apparatus, at the time ofsaving the file, the user selects a keyword by single-clicking a buttoncorresponding to the keyword that the user intends to register and savesthe file in this state, thereby registering the keyword of the selectedbutton in the path information of the file. Thus, with the informationprocessing apparatus, the user selects the keyword selection button 56at the time of seeking the file to seek the keyword registered by thebutton and to display the objectives, thereby being able to narrow downthe files. In the information processing apparatus, to assign thekeyword of the keyword selection button 56, having been selected at thetime of pushing the saving button 57, to the path information, theselection order of buttons at the time of registration is arbitrary. Inthe information processing apparatus, the keywords may be sequentiallyassigned every time that the keyword selection button 56 is selected. Inthe information processing apparatus, furthermore, the selected keywordselection button 56 is single-clicked once again to cancel selectionthereof. In the information processing apparatus, furthermore, thekeyword selection button 56 is double-clicked to activate thepredetermined screen for changing and saving a setting of the keyword.Accordingly, the information processing apparatus can set the arbitrarykeyword. In the information processing apparatus, furthermore, a keywordclearance button 58 is single-clicked to bring all of the keywordselection buttons 56 to an unselected state. Furthermore, in theinformation processing apparatus, a previous keyword selection button 59is single-clicked to bring the keyword selection button 56 that wasselected at the time of previous saving operation to a selected state.

With respect to the keyword selection button 56, such a keyword asuninfluenced by time factors, such as a template, an estimate, and thelike is normally registered. The keyword is referred to as a fixedkeyword. On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus, thesave screen is provided with a movable keyword selection area 60 forregistering a movable keyword defined as a keyword influenced by timefactors, such as a meeting preparation, complaint handling, and thelike. This will be explained later. In the information processingapparatus, furthermore, a common keyword is assigned to a category suchas a theme, a title, and the like, and the plurality of keywordselection buttons 56 can be grouped under categories switchable by a tabkey, such as “company (outside company)”, “company (inside company)”,“individual”, “music” “photograph”, and the like, to facilitate seekingoperation along with each purpose. At this time, in the informationprocessing apparatus, the keyword selection button 56 is desirablychangeable over different categories.

Herein, the information processing apparatus is required to manage thekeyword to be assigned as a condition. The keyword is handled as asingle file, such as “I:\November Business Trip to U.S.A. key\”. In theinformation processing apparatus, the keyword displayed on the savescreen may be directly registered in the path information, and may beregistered as a symbol string in the path information, for example, akeyword ABC may be registered as “A01”, in order to shorten a length ofthe path information.

The fixed keyword and the movable keyword described above are used asthe keyword. The fixed keyword is always displayed as the keywordselection button 56 regardless of the objective time period in theseeking operation, by using the future date such as Dec. 31, 9999 as themanagement time of the keyword file. With respect to the movablekeyword, on the other hand, the contents displayed on the movablekeyword selection area 60 are changed according to selection of thetime-period specifying button 52, by defining the desired displayobjective time as the management time of the keyword file. Meanwhile,the management time of the keyword is not the creation time but isautomatically updated at the time of updating the file having the pathinformation containing the keyword. Furthermore, in the informationprocessing apparatus, in the case where the keyword is unnecessary butdesired to remain only in the non-display state, the past date such asJan. 1, 1900 is assigned as the management time of the keyword file,thereby being able to display only those keywords as a whole. It is tobe noted that the normal file time-period specification and the keywordtime-period specification are completely different but in theinformation processing apparatus, the management time of the keywordfile may be set using the aforementioned time-period specifying button52 or the time-period specification deselection button 53 to facilitatethe operation.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus, the movablekeyword can be managed using the fixed keyword. In the informationprocessing apparatus, for example, the movable keywords such as“November Business Trip to U.S.A.” or “December Business Trip toEngland” can be managed by the fixed keyword such as “Business Trip”. Inthis case, the update time indicating the desired display objective timeperiod to be displayed on the movable keyword selection area 60 isassigned as the management time to the keyword file of this movablekeyword whereas the future date is assigned as a condition to thekeyword file in a manner similar to the fixed keyword.

Other than the above, the save screen is provided with a conditionselection shortcut 61 for selecting the specific conditions at once. Theoperation with use of the mouse is generally more burdensome than theoperation with use of the keyboard in many cases. In the informationprocessing apparatus, in the case where there exist many conditions tobe selected or where the same conditions or the same conditioncombination are used with high frequency, those conditions arepreviously registered to be highly convenient. Herein, in theinformation processing apparatus, the specific condition can beregistered by forming the condition selection shortcut 61 that isoperated not only by selection using the mouse but also by input of asingle letter using the keyboard, so that the keyword or the like as acondition can be easily assigned.

In the information processing apparatus, the assigned keyword isdisplayed on a keyword display area 62 by assigning through theaforementioned save screen the condition to the file to be saved. In theinformation processing apparatus, furthermore, the file name is input orselected through a file name input selection box 63 or a file type isinput or selected through a file type input selection box 64 and thesaving button 57 is pushed to save the file to the I drive, according tonecessity. In the meantime, the keyword is not necessarily assigned as acondition and only the file type selected through the program button 51or the time period selected through the time-period specifying button 52is required to be assigned as a condition.

The detailed operation for saving the file through the save screen isdescribed herein.

First, as an example of creating the file by using two keywords as wellas assigning a file name, such a case is assumed where the saving areais set to the I drive, the management time is set to Jan. 1, 2004, twokeywords are set to key 1 and key 2, the file name is set to filename1input through the file name input selection box 63, and the file type isset to a word processing document having the extension of doc. In thiscase, in the information processing apparatus,I:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc is assigned as the path informationof the file. Herein, the information processing apparatus arranges andmanages all of the files in the I drive in the time-management sequence,as described above, but automatically assigns the present time of thecreation time as the management time at the time of creating the file.Therefore, the creation time, the update time, and the management timeof the file are all set to Jan. 1, 2004. Herein, the management timedoes not have to be a simplified transcription of a year, a month, and aday. The information processing apparatus manages the files to a unit ofseconds using a serial value, thereby being able to eliminate the filesthat have the same path information and are therefore recognized as thesame file. Therefore, the information processing apparatus can save theplurality of files each having a different management time and the samename, thereby being able to manage the same files based on updatehistories.

Furthermore, as an example of creating the file without assigning anykeywords or file names, such a case is assumed where the saving area isset to the I drive, the management time is set to Jan. 2, 2004, the filename is set to no title as a default value displayed through the filename input selection box 63, and that the file type is set to a wordprocessing document having the extension of doc. In this case, in theinformation processing apparatus, I:\2004/1/2\nontitle.doc is assignedas the path information. In the information processing apparatus, asdescribed above, assignment of the keyword is arbitrarily selectable, sothat the keyword is not necessarily forced to be assigned. Furthermore,in the information processing apparatus, the file name can also be setto the arbitrary condition by setting a default value. In the meantime,in the information processing apparatus, even where the plurality offiles having no file names are created, those files are not recognizedas the same file since the management time, the keyword, and the likechange. As described above, the information processing apparatus cannarrow down the files according to the management time and the fileformat even where the keyword does not exist, and further can seek andextract only the files having no file names.

Furthermore, as an example newly assigning only the keyword aftercreation of the file, such a case is assumed where the new keyword key3is assigned to Jan. 3, 2004 on the condition that the path informationbefore assignment of the new password is set toI:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. In this case, in the informationprocessing apparatus, I:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\key3\filename1.doc isassigned as the path information of the file. In the informationprocessing apparatus, as described above, the keyword assigned to thefile is displayed in another color at the time of selection of the file,and a keyword desired to be added is selected through the predeterminedsave and editing screen, so that the keyword can be changed. At thistime, the creation time, the update time, and the management time areset to Jan. 1, 2004 in a manner similar to those before assignment ofthe keyword 3. That is, in the information processing apparatus, thecreation time and the update time are not changed in a manner similar toas shift of the file using the existing Explorer and the management timeis basically not changed.

Furthermore, as an example such that only the keyword is deleted aftercreation of the file, such a case is assumed that the keyword key3 isdeleted on Jan. 4, 2004 on the condition that the path informationbefore deletion of the keyword is set toI:\2004/1/3\key1\key2\key3\filename1.doc. In this case, in theinformation processing apparatus, I:\2004/1/3\key1\key2\filename1.doc isassigned as the path information of file. In the information processingapparatus, as described above, the keyword assigned to the file isdisplayed in another color at the time of selection of the file andselection of the keyword desired to be deleted is canceled through thepredetermined save and editing screen, so that the keyword can bechanged. At this time, in the information processing apparatus, thecreation time and the update time are not changed while the managementtime is not to be changed as well in a manner similar to those at thetime of assignment of new keyword.

Furthermore, as an example of overwriting and saving the updated file,such a case is assumed where the file is overwritten and saved on Jan.5, 2004 on the condition that the path information before theoverwriting and saving operation is set toI:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. In this case, in the informationprocessing apparatus, I:\2004/1/5\key1\key2\filename1.doc is assigned asthe path information of the file. In the information processingapparatus, at the time of updating the file, either one of “overwritesave” or “save as another file” can be selected, and new information iswritten over old file information to update the management time andupdate time in the case of selection of the “overwrite save”. Thus, thecreation time of the file remains as Jan. 1, 2004 but both the updatetime and the management time are set to Jan. 5, 2004.

Furthermore, as an example such that the updated file is saved asanother file, such a case is assumed that the file is saved on Jan. 6,2004 on the condition that the path information before the savingoperation is set to I:\20041/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. In this case,the information processing apparatus saves the file having the pathinformation set to I:\2004/1/6\key1\key2\filename1.doc other than thefile having the path information set toI:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. That is, the information processingapparatus saves two types of files having different management times andupdate times in the case of selection of “save as another file” at thetime of updating the file. At this time, in the information processingapparatus, the management time and the update time of the newly createdfile are updated, but the creation time thereof is not changed. That is,in this case, the creation time of the file remains as Jan. 1, 2004 butboth the update time and the management time are set to Jan. 6, 2004.Thus, the information processing apparatus can manage the files based onhistories by saving two types of files having the same file names butdifferent management times.

Furthermore, as an example of a file being copied, such a case isassumed where the file is copied on the Jan. 7, 2004 on the conditionthat the file as a source has the path information set toI:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. In this case, the informationprocessing apparatus saves the file having the path information ofI:\2004/1/7\key1\key2\filename1.doc other than the file as the source,having the path information of I:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. Thatis, to copy the file, the information processing apparatus creates thefile different from the source, being different from the source in themanagement time only. At this time, the information processing apparatusupdates only to the management time of the copied file but does notchange either the creation time or the update time thereof since thecontents of the copied file are not updated from the source. In thiscase, that is, the creation time and the update time of the file remainas Jan. 1, 2004 but the management time thereof is set to Jan. 7, 2004.As described above, the information processing apparatus can manage thefiles based on histories by saving two types of files having the samefile names but different management times.

Furthermore, as an example such that the time-period specificationdeselection button 53 is selected, such a case is assumed that thetime-period specification deselection button 53 is selected on Jan. 8,2004 on the condition that the path information of the file is set to2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. In this case, the informationprocessing apparatus saves the file assigned with the path informationset to I:\A2004/1/1\key\key2\filename1.doc. As described above, in thecase of selection of the time-period specification deselection button53, in the information processing apparatus, “A” is assigned at thefront of the management time to set the management time of the files tothe future with respect to the file having the newest management time,thereby being able to select and display the files having the futuremanagement time separately at once. In the meantime, selection of thetime-period specification deselection button 53 is not associated withsaving of the file, so that the creation time, the update time, and themanagement time are not changed. On the other hand, in the informationprocessing apparatus, in the case of canceling selection of thetime-period specification deselection button 53, the path information isreset to I:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc.

Furthermore, as an example of selecting the non-display button 54, sucha case is assumed where the non-display button 54 is selected on Jan. 9,2004 on the condition that the path information is set toI:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc. In this case, the informationprocessing apparatus saves the file assigned with the path informationset to I:\2004/1/1\\key1\key2\filename1.doc. As described above, in thecase of selection of the non-display button 54 of the informationprocessing apparatus, “\” is assigned after the management time, therebybeing able to bring this file in non-display state. Thus, theinformation processing apparatus can eliminate such a possibility thatthe information indicating a non-display state as described above isconfused with a keyword. In the case of selection of the non-displayunit 54, the information processing apparatus does not change thecreation time, the update time, and the management time. Thus, theinformation processing apparatus can retain the previous management timeinformation at the time of selection of the non-display reset button 55,thereby being able to conduct the seeking operation at each time, sothat the file can be redisplayed immediately. On the other hand, in thecase of selection of the non-display reset button 55, the informationprocessing apparatus resets the path information toI:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc.

Furthermore, as an example of sending the file saved to the I drive toanother drive such as the C drive, such a case is assumed where the pathinformation of the file is set to I:\2004/1/1\key1\key2\filename1.doc.In this case, the information processing apparatus saves the fileassigned with the information of the designation folder as the pathinformation, for example, C:\MyDocument\filename1.doc. That is, wherethe file is sent to a drive other than the I drive, the informationprocessing apparatus handles the file in a manner similar to theconventional file system, so that change of the data is not accompaniedand a concept of the management time becomes nonexistent. On the otherhand, as an example of sending the file saved in another drive to the Idrive, such a case is assumed where the file is sent on Jan. 10, 2004 onthe condition that the path information of the file is set toC:\MyDocument\filename1.doc. In this case, the information processingapparatus saves the file assigned with the path information set toI:\2004/1/10\filename1.doc. That is, the information processingapparatus basically assigns the update time as the management time tothe file at the time of sending the file to the I drive. At this time,the information processing apparatus activates the save screen toconfirm assignment of the keyword at every time of sending the file tothe I drive. In the case of not assigning the keyword, the informationprocessing apparatus sets the sending date when the file is sent to themanagement time but does not change the update time. Furthermore, theinformation processing apparatus sets the sending date to the managementtime and the update time in a case of assigning the keyword.

As described above, the information processing apparatus can save thefile by assigning various conditions to the path information through thesave screen.

Next, a seek screen for seeking and displaying the file saved throughthe save screen will be explained.

The information processing apparatus executes the predetermined filebrowser (seeking) software under control of the CPU11 and displays asthe seek screen the GUI as shown in FIG. 14, for example, on the displayunit 17. The seek screen is constructed in a manner similar to the savescreen except that the seek screen does not have the file name inputselection box 63, the file type input selection box 64, and the like.Each of the buttons that are the same as those in the save screen have afunction of selecting a condition for performing the seeking operation,instead of a function of assigning a condition in the save screen.

To be more specific, in the information processing apparatus, the typesof files as a seek objective are narrowed down with reference to theextension registered at the rightmost end of the path information byselecting the program button 51, thereby displaying the objective fileson an objective file display area 65, in a a list or icon format. Atthis time, the information processing apparatus does not select the filetype for each of the extensions in a manner similar to the conventionalseeking system but extracts collectively the files having an extensionexecutable with the application program corresponding to a selectedbutton. With the information processing apparatus, the user cancustomize the extension which is sought with use of each program button51, and can select the detailed file type based on a pop-up display, forexample, by a right-click operation in the seeking operation.

Herein, in the information processing apparatus, an email file to bedescribed later is set to a seek objective only where an email button 51a is selected, while a normal file is set to a seek objective where thebuttons other than the email button 51 a are selected. The informationprocessing apparatus sets all of the files other than the email to aseek objective where none of program buttons 51 are selected.Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus, the predeterminedkey such as a control key is pushed while the plurality of programbuttons 51 are single-clicked, so that union of sets (AUB) of theplurality of selected file types are set to a seek objective, and thusthe files corresponding to the union of sets are displayed as the seekobjectives in a a list or icon format on the objective file display area65. Yet further, the information processing apparatus selects the set Bin the difference of sets (A-B) by a single-click of the desired programbutton 51 as well as push of the predetermined key such as an Alt key sothe seek objective does not include the corresponding objective.

In the meantime, in the information processing apparatus, the email isdistinguished from the normal folders on ground of having differentproperty information. To be more specific, the information processingapparatus does not display the email except in the case of selection ofthe email button 51 a, while displaying only the emails by starting anemail-only screen to be described later in the case of selection of theemail button 51 a. In the information processing apparatus, a screen forselecting the normal keyword is shared between the normal file and theemail. This is because email is the nerve center of current businessoperations in many cases and there are many similarities between thenormal file classification and the email classification.

In the information processing apparatus, furthermore, the files as theseek objective are narrowed down with reference to the management timeregistered in the path information by selecting the time-periodspecifying button 52, thereby displaying the objective files in a a listor icon format on an objective file display area 65. In the informationprocessing apparatus, since the files inside the I drive are allarranged in the sequence of management time, not the whole of files butonly files in an objective range, such as “from “I:\2004/1/1*” to“I;\2003/11/1*” ”, are to be sought and extracted, thereby being able toshorten the seeking time period. At this time, the time period ofseeking the objectives starts from the time of a default setting or aprevious termination.

Herein, there conventionally exists a seeking method in consideration ofthe time condition described above, such as a seeking method of directlyinputting a year, a month, and a day, with the purpose of specifying thedate. The seeking method, however, requires time to specify the date,and especially requires input of start and end of the time-period tospecify the time-period, thereby having such a defect as forcing theuser to perform a complicated input operation. The time-periodspecifying button 52 enables the seeking operation that is much easierto use than the conventional seeking method in consideration of timeinformation.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus, the importantfiles having importance that is unchangeable over time and the normalfiles narrowed-down by the time-period specifying button 52 are soughtby selecting the time-period specification deselection button 53,thereby being displayed in a a list or icon format on the objective filedisplay area 65. In the information processing apparatus, the importantfile is not displayed on the objective file display area 65 in a casewhere the time-period specification deselection button 53 is notselected. The information processing apparatus basically sets thetime-period specifying button 52 to an unselected state and displaysonly the important files on the objective file display area 65, by adouble-click of the time-period specification deselection button 53. Atthis time, the information processing apparatus can display byspecifying the time period, only the important files having “A” assignedat the front of the management time in the path information, by sharingthe time-period specifying button 52.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus, by selecting thenon-display reset button 55, the files set to an unselected state by thenon-display button 54 in the saving operation and the normal filesnarrowed-down by the time-period specifying button 52 are displayed in alist or icon format on the objective file display area 65. Yet further,in the information processing apparatus, a double-click of thenon-display reset button 55 fixes selection thereof, so that only thenon-display files are displayed on the objective file display area 65.At this time, in the information processing apparatus, only thenon-display files having the management time corresponding to thetime-period specifying button 52 and having the path informationcontaining “\ \” after the management time are displayed on theobjective file display area 65.

Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus, the keywordselection button 56 or the movable keyword selection area 60 areselected to seek and display the files including the selected keyword onthe objective file display area 65. In the information processingapparatus, the files including the selected keyword are sought at everytime, so that there is no need for selecting all of the keywordscomposing the path information, and the sequence of selecting thekeywords and the choice as to whether or not to select the keywords arearbitrary. At this time, in the information processing apparatus, asdescribed above, since the files are sought by setting such a portion toa unit, as sandwiched between “\”, for example, “\keyword A\”, otherkeywords containing “keyword A” are not extracted despite the existencethereof, thereby being able to prevent the seeking operation frombecoming unclear. Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus,since the file name is not sandwiched between “\”, even where the filename contains the keyword, the file name is not displayed as a candidatefile as a mistake on the objective file display area 65 as long as thekeyword is not assigned to the path information. In the informationprocessing apparatus, the plurality of keywords can be selected at thesame time by a single-click of the plurality of keyword selectionbuttons 56 or the movable keyword selection area 60. In this case, aproduct of sets (A∩B) of the plurality of selected keywords is set asthe seek objective, and the files including all of the plurality ofselected keywords are displayed as seek results in a a list or iconformat on the objective file display area 65 in a form. Furthermore, inthe information processing apparatus, the predetermined key such as ashift key is pushed while the plurality of keyword selection buttons 56or the movable keyword selection area 60 are single-clicked, so that aunion of sets of the plurality of selected file types is set as the seekobjective, and as seek results, the files containing any one of theplurality of selected keywords are displayed as an objective file in alist or icon format on the objective file display area 65. Furthermore,in the information processing apparatus, the predetermined key such as ashift key is pushed while the plurality of keyword selection buttons 56or the movable keyword selection area 60 are single-clicked, so that adifference (A∪B)-(A∪B) between a union of sets (A∪B) and a product ofsets (A∩B) is set to the seek objective, and as seek results, the filescontaining any one of the plurality of selected keywords are displayedin a list or icon format on the objective file display area 65. Yetfurther, in the information processing apparatus, the predetermined keysuch as a shift key is pushed while the plurality of keyword selectionbuttons 56 or the movable keyword selection area 60 are single-clicked,so that the set B in a difference of sets (A-B) does not contain thecorresponding objectives in the seek results.

In the information processing apparatus, all of the selected keywordselection buttons 56 can be reset to an unselected state by asingle-click of the keyword clearance button 58, while the keywordselection buttons 56 that were selected at the time of the previoussaving operation can be set to a selected state by a single-click of theprevious keyword selection button 59. Furthermore, in the informationprocessing apparatus, only the files to which the keyword is notassigned as a condition are displayed as objective files in a list oricon format on the objective file display area 65 by a single-click of akeyword-unassigned file button 66, and only the files to which a filename is not assigned are displayed as the objective files in a list oricon format on the objective file display area 65 by a single-click of afile-name-unassigned file button 67.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus is provided with anelimination objective display button 68 for displaying the objectivefiles that were eliminated from the candidates in the last conditionselection operation. In the information processing apparatus, there is arisk that the user cannot visually identify such a file as omitted fromthe candidates in the case of selection of one more condition since thefile is hidden behind numerous other candidates. Therefore, theinformation processing apparatus is provided with the eliminationobjective display button 68 to enable display of the files omitted fromthe candidates in the last condition selection operation. Theinformation processing apparatus can thereby reduce leakage at the timeof the seeking operation.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus broadens the conceptof attaching the file to an email, thereby realizing attachment ofanother file to a normal file. For example, a main document createdusing a word processing document and a sub-document created using aspreadsheet software exist as a conference material, having contentssupplementing the main document, in many cases where the user desires tocorrelate and save two or more files. The function of attaching anotherfile to the normal file is extremely effective in the use describedabove.

Two pieces of information are necessary for realizing the fileattachment function, that is, one is as to whether the file is attachedand the other is, if the file is attached, as to whether the file issaved. In other words, the file can be attached without control of therelation database, as long as certain rules and property information areprepared.

To be more specific, the information processing apparatus is requiredonly to attach the information indicating existence of a child file tothe path information of a parent file and to uniquely decide in advancespecific saving areas such as areas not allowing the normal files to besaved thereto by using forbidden characters, currently-used Tempfolders, and the like, so the attached child file is not affected by theupdate of the parent file. The information processing apparatus can thuscorrelate and save the arbitrary files. Furthermore, in the case ofseeking the files attached with the aforementioned attachment files, theinformation processing apparatus can display those files on theobjective file display area 65 in a list or icon format by selection ofan attachment-attached file button 69. In this case, it goes withoutsaying that the child file is set in a manner that the unique keywordcannot be assigned thereto.

As described above, the information processing apparatus can easilyattach the relative file to the arbitrary file as the relative documentsare stapled.

Hereinafter, an email software program for sending and receiving emailswill be explained as another specific example of the applicationsoftware program executable by the information processing apparatus.

In using the conventional email software program, the relationaldatabase is used for management of emails in many cases, and emails aregenerally managed on a folder basis or on an overall file basis, whichcompiles emails, since the pieces of information on individual emailsneed to be listed to manage the emails. That is, since the email hashigher volume of different property information than that of the normalfile and the conventional file browser software program such as Explorerlacks a database function sufficient to handle the emails, a single fileis created for each of the email folders, similar to a so-called DBXbox, thereby being handled by using a specific software program. On theprecondition that the emails are classified and saved to individualfolders, where the folder increases in capacity enough to cause aslowdown in the processing speed, the user is considered as responsible,so that it is recommended to divide the folders where a certain volumeof emails are accumulated therein. However, even the emails are notnecessarily managed by the specific email software program but can bemanaged by another program as long as the program has a function ofsending and receiving files. The high quality email software programdepends not on an excellent function of sending and receiving files buton a function for finding the target file immediately and on anexcellent database function that is easily manageable.

Since the information processing apparatus applies a method such thatall of the files are not classified but compiled at one place to bemanaged, as described above, this thought is developed to handle theindividual files to be sent and received as an independent sole file,and a communication time such as a receiving time or a sending time ofthe email is used as the aforementioned management time. Thus, theinformation processing apparatus can handle the emails as well in amanner similar to the aforementioned normal file. As described above,the emails, however, have property information different from that ofthe normal file, thereby being required to be distinguished therefrom.The information processing apparatus executes the predetermined emailapplication program using the CPU 11 to display as the email screen theGUI, such as that shown in FIG. 15, on the display unit 17 where theemail button 51 a is provided to the save screen or the seek screen.That is, the information processing apparatus displays the GUI thatvisualizes a function of selecting various conditions on the displayunit 17 in a manner similar to the save screen or the seek screen.

To be more specific, the email screen is provided with the time-periodspecifying button 52, the time-period deselection button 53, thenon-display button 54, the non-display reset button 55, the keywordselection button 56, the keyword clearance button 58, the previouskeyword selection button 59, the movable keyword selection area 60, thecondition selection shortcut key 61, the keyword display area 62, thekeyword-unassigned file button 66, the file-name-unassigned file button67, the elimination objective display button 68, and theattachment-attached file button 69, as shown in FIG. 15. Those variousoperating elements have substantially the same function as those of thesave screen or the seek screen as described above.

Especially in the keyword selection button 56 and the movable keywordselection area 60, other than the keywords indicating the contents ofthe email, the email address or the like of the party at the other endis registered as the keyword. Herein, in all of the conventional emailsoftware programs, management is conducted on an individual email basis.On the other hand, the information processing apparatus can classify theemails based on a condition as an arbitrary selection item, therebybeing able to conduct a topic management that has not been conducted,even using any type of email software program. In many cases, the emailsconcerning a single topic are received and sent two or more times, aplurality of parties exist, or, even in the case of the same partner atthe other end, the emails concerning another topic are sometimesreceived and sent during intervals between communications with respectto a single topic. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to extractafterward all of the emails concerning a single topic. Furthermore, inusing the conventional email software program, contiguous sequence ofthe emails is interrupted unless a return function is used, or in thecase where a title is not assigned to the email, a title irrelevant tocontent is assigned, or where two or more topics are in the same singleemail, the contents cannot be determined based on the tile, so that theuser needs to read the contents for confirmation every time. Herein, theinformation processing apparatus manages topics by registering a topicof the email as a keyword in the keyword selection button 56 or themovable keyword selection area 60, thereby being able to remarkablyshorten the seeking time-period. In the meantime, the topic is definedas a condition of an arbitrary selection condition, thereby notinterfering with the operation for seeking individual emails.Furthermore, in the case where the contents of the single email arecomposed of two or more topics, the email can be registered in theplurality of topics or conversely, such emails not classified based ontopic can be created.

Furthermore, this email screen is provided with an in-button 71 and anout-button 72 respectively corresponding to a so-called conventionalinbox where the received email is saved and an outbox where the sentemail is temporally saved. That is, the information processing apparatusis not provided with the folders such as the inbox and the outbox whichwere taken for granted in using the conventional email software programbut provided with the in-button 71 and the out-button 72 instead, andregisters the files of the received email and the sent emails in thein-button 71 and the out-button 72, respectively. The informationprocessing apparatus seeks either one of the received emails or the sentemails as an objective email according to selection of either one of thein-button 71 and out-button 72, thereby displaying the sought emails onan objective email display area 73 in a list or icon format. Theinformation processing apparatus can therefore easily selectclassification between the received email and the sent email, as acondition. Therefore, the information processing apparatus can narrowthe emails down to the emails belonging to either one of the receivedemail or the sent email by adopting this method, thereby making it easyto seek the targeted email while confirming the histories.

The email screen is further provided with an unread button 74 forselecting the email which is not yet read. The information processingapparatus seeks only the unread emails as an objective email accordingto selection of the unread button 74, thereby displaying the soughtemails on the objective email display area 73 in a list or icon format.

Other than that, the email screen is provided with an address bookselection button 75 for selecting a keyword as a condition from anaddress book, a forwarded-email selection button 76 for selecting onlyforwarded emails, an in-creation email selection button 77 for selectingonly the emails which are in the process of creation, a sent emailselection button 78 for selecting only the sent emails, and the like.The information processing apparatus seeks only the corresponding emailsas the objective email according to selection of each of the variousbuttons, thereby displaying the sought emails on the objective emaildisplay area 73 in a list or icon format.

The information processing apparatus assigns via the aforementionedemail screen a condition on the email file to be saved, thereby causinga keyword display area 79 to display the assigned keyword. Furthermore,with the information processing apparatus, a title of the email is inputor selected via a title input selection box 80 or a sender ordestination of the email is input or selected via a sender/destinationinput selection box 81 and thereafter the save button 57 is pushed sothat the received or sent email is saved to the I drive. In theinformation processing apparatus, it is to be noted that the keyword isnot necessarily assigned as a condition in a manner similar to that ofthe normal file, and the information processing apparatus is requiredonly to assign as a condition a time-period selected via the time-periodspecifying button 52. With the information processing apparatus,furthermore, selection of a program button 82 causes a return to thesave screen or the seek screen previously shown in FIG. 3 or 14.

As described above, the information processing apparatus can set thearbitrary selection item as a condition with respect to the email aswell and perform extraordinary variety of classifications by handlingthose conditions as a set.

As described above, handling each of the emails as an independent fileresults in merits such as described hereinafter.

First of all, it becomes possible to easily pass the file and theaddress. With the information processing apparatus, the email can bepassed as well between different application software programs so a textfile as to be readable using various application software programs.Furthermore, with the information processing apparatus, the address ishandled as an individual file, thereby being able to be passed insubstantially the same manner. Second, it becomes easy to share thefile. With the information processing apparatus, the email file can beshared by sharing the physical area for saving the file, and if thissharing is applied to groupware, large amounts can be easily shared,which is considered impossible. The seek screen can be easily customizedin accordance with each of the users' needs, thereby not requiringexpensive groupware. To be more specific, in the information processingapparatus, only the email having a user's own name as a sender andreceiver is normally set to a seek objective and the other emails are tobe sought if necessary. This can be applied to others besides email.Third, the keyword can be shared. Since the email presently plays acentral role in business operations, it is more convenient to setclassification of the emails to be equal to classification of the normalfiles, but a management software program for an email is different froma management software program for a normal file, so that the sharing ofclassification cannot be realized. With the information processingapparatus, however, as described above, function of the email softwareprogram is rendered to coalesce in the save screen or the seek screen,thereby allowing commonality of each keyword. Thus, the informationprocessing apparatus can easily manage projects or cases and shortenremarkably a time required for seeking for and/or managing the file orthe email.

As described above, the information processing apparatus according tothe embodiment of this invention shakes off a concept of conventionalfile management based on a fixed hierarchical structure in a tree formand adopts a concept of a condition set to perform a file management inwhich the path information is recognized as a condition set, therebybeing able to sought the corresponding file from among variousconditions easily and accurately, thereby being able to provide the userwith remarkably high convenience.

It is to be noted that this invention is not limited to theaforementioned embodiment. For example, the image processing apparatusis structured as a personal computer, for example, in the aboveembodiment but this invention can be applied to a mobile computerrequiring file management, such as a cellular phone or Personal DigitalAssistants (PDA).

Furthermore, this invention is suitable for application not only to thestand-alone information processing apparatus but also to groupware orthe like. Under the file management using the conventional saving area,it is not easy for the third party other than the person who saved thefile to seek the target file, thereby leading to a situation such thatthe information is hardly shared in the business scene. According tothis invention, a selection item as a condition is consistently set foran organization and the necessary selection item is laid down, so thatany users who belong to the organization can easily find out the filesaved by the others, thereby being able to operate and manage theinformation as an organization. According to this invention,furthermore, the seek screen handled by each individual can bearbitrarily customized in accordance with needs, thereby no longerrequiring the expensive groupware, and since the condition setting as anindividual is set to an arbitrary selection item, the identical file tobe shared can be managed in the user's unique way as well as by usinghis keyword that is different from others.

Furthermore, according to this invention, the GUI for selecting acondition composing the save screen, the seek screen, and the emailscreen is not limited to a button form but can be arbitrary.

To be more specific, the button form is a fixed type in substantiallythe same form as a shortcut formed on a desktop. This type of buttonform can always be displayed in the same area to render the keywords fewin number, thereby being effective in the case where those keywords arefixed and simple regardless of a time lapse. On the other hand, the button form is unsuitable in the case where the keyword is composed of along character string, there are a large number of keywords, or wherethe number of keywords increases frequently.

The GUI can adopt a tabular form defined as movable, which is the sameform as that of file display in using the existing Explorer. The tabularform is effective in the case where the keywords are high in number orwhere the number of keywords increases frequently, upon sorting or useof a filter function. Furthermore, where the keyword depends on a timelapse, the tabular form is used in combination with the time-periodspecifying button 52 to bring the old files to a non-display state or todisplay only the files including the keyword of the specific timeperiod, thereby facilitating the seeking operation. Furthermore, it isalso possible to manage the keyword of a tabular form by using thekeyword in a form of a button or a tree. The aforementioned tabular formis effective not only for management of project cases or monthly oryearly file management but also for a new method for managing emails ina manner to compile the emails based on topic.

Furthermore, the GUI can adopt a fixed type of foldable tree form insubstantially the same form as the folder forming a hierarchicalstructure in the conventional tree form. The aforementioned tree type issuch a method for developing a scheme while minutely classifying thekeyword from top down. That is, the tree form is a method extremelysuitable for keyword management. In the conventional tree form, as thearea for saving the file, only one of the keywords formed in ahierarchical structure had to be selected as an absolute condition, sothat the conventional tree form was not suitable as a file managementmethod. That is, a screen for managing the keyword and the area forsaving the file are combined, thereby going beyond capacity. Theadvantage in using the tree form is that in the case of existence of aconcept such as high and low levels, simplification can be achieved atthe time of assignment of the keyword by setting the keyword to a higherkeyword to be selected at the time of selection of a lower keyword.Furthermore, the tree form is foldable, thereby being able to manageeasily a greater number of keywords than the button form. Furthermore,at the time of introducing this invention, the tree form can bestructured in substantially the same manner as the screen which has beenfamiliar so far, so that the user feels comfortable, thereby being ableto directly use the existing classification of the file as a keyword.

Furthermore, the GUI can adopt a hyperlink form that can be freelyplaced. In using the hyperlink form, the operation elements can befreely placed, thereby being able to compose various screens such as aweb screen with use of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).

For example, according to this invention, a flow chart can be directlyused as the GUI for selecting a condition and, in this case, it becomespossible to seek the file according to stages of operational progresswith ease. Furthermore, in this invention, a Gantt chart also can bedirectly used as the GUI for selecting a condition and in this case, thefile can be managed according to stages of progress such as developmentof a game, a project of a general contractor, and the like, so that itbecomes easy for the plurality of parties concerned to share theinformation. At this time, in this invention, where the GUI forselecting a condition is created by directly using the flow chart or theGantt chart, the project name is specified as a condition, thereby beingable to ascertain whether a document (file) in accordance with the flowchart or the Gantt chart is created to follow up the project. Forexample, according to this invention, the GUI for selecting a conditionis created by directly using a flow chart such as “a proposal”→“aspecification”→“an estimate”→“an invoice”, it becomes possible to seekthe file according to stages of operational progress with ease andfurther, the project name is designed in a selectable manner to allowdisplay of the objective file by specifying and selecting the project,thereby being able to easily ascertain whether the document is createdin accordance with a flow chart. It is to be noted that the project nameis desirably set to a movable condition such that the sorting in thesequence of date or the Japanese syllabary is possible, not to the fixedbutton form. Therefore, according to this invention, the projects can besought by sorting in the sequence of date of the Japanese syllabary evenwhere the project number increases, thereby being able to easily seekthe projects requiring follow-up.

Furthermore, according to this invention, a bookkeeper or the like atthe company can be prevented from forgetting to create the document bycreating the GUI for selecting a condition as formed in a form of acalendar or a schedule book, which expresses the operation for creatingthe document, in the case where there exists the document that has to becreated by an appointed date of each month, for example. According tothis invention, furthermore, the schedule book is provided withspecification on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, and a yearly basis,such as by the tenth of each month, and with specification based on theactual date to allow the date to be specified by selecting either one,so that the business operation schedule can be managed with respect tothe files. Yet further, according to this invention, where a teachergives an assignment to students or where a supervisor demands that hissubordinates submit a document, specifying those date conditions enablesthe submission deadline to be respected. Furthermore, according to thisinvention, managing the emails using such the GUI for selecting thecondition as formed in a calendar form makes it easy to seek the emailshaving dates by which received email must be answered or sent email mustbe responded to and further, registration of the anniversary or the likeenables users to be prevented from forgetting to transmit the importantemails.

Furthermore, this invention can be applied to the existing address book.That is, the existing address book is managed by the folder forming ahierarchical structure in a tree form in many cases. According to thisinvention, the candidates can be easily reduced by adding a condition asan arbitrary selection item onto the address book. At this time, thisaddition of a condition is arbitrary, thereby not interfering withseeking in the sequence of the Japanese syllabary. For example,according to this invention, the candidates can be reduced in half onlyby setting classification between men and women. Furthermore, accordingto the invention, classification of age of the person at the other end,such as older, the same, or younger with respect to the user himself, ora physical size of the person at the other end, such as taller, shorter,or fat, is suitable as a condition because those statuses arecomparatively retained in memory. Furthermore, according to theinvention, where the physical size or feature of the person at the otherend, such as wearing grasses, wearing a beard, or having long hair, isset to a condition, the buttons for selecting those conditions areassigned with illustrations, thereby being able to provide those buttonsas a highly amusing seeking tool. Yet further, according to thisinvention, the address book is directly created as the GUI for selectinga condition with respect to information on customers such as a doctor, acompany, and the like, so that customer data, the document submitted tothe customer, and the like can be promptly extracted.

According to this invention, furthermore, the album can be directlycreated as the GUI for selecting a condition, which is similar to theaddress book. For example, according to this invention, where a teacherat a private school needs to remember names of students or a supervisorneeds to remember names of subordinates at a new workplace, the album offacial portraits are directly used to create the GUI for selecting acondition, thereby being able to confirm the identification of person ina manner to correlate the document with the person.

According to this invention, furthermore, the organization chart isdirectly created as the GUI for selecting a condition. For example,management using the organization chart makes it easy to seek humanresources data, budget management, and the like of the organization.Furthermore, according to this invention, the relationship diagram isdirectly created as the GUI for selecting a condition. For example,where a detective manages information concerning a background, alibi,and investigation of people involved in a case, management using apersonal relationship diagram makes it easy that the user manages thedocument while organizing the information. Furthermore, according tothis invention, the graph can be directly created as the GUI forselecting a condition. According to this invention, for example, theinformation as to quality of the branch office can be performed bycreating the graph directly as the GUI for selecting a condition.

According to this invention, furthermore, a map or a route map can becreated directly as the GUI for selecting a condition. A real-estateagent and the like can find out information on a real estate property bymanaging the file based on the map. Furthermore, a franchisee having aplurality of branch offices manages the files concerning sales,purchase, and the like, thereby being able to performing a marketinganalysis at the same time. According to this invention, furthermore, adesign drawing can be created directly as the GUI for selecting acondition. Those concerned in a design, a construction company, aninterior finish work, and the like manage the files using the drawing ofbuilding, thereby being able to extract material cost estimates, 3-Dimages, conceptual views, or the like for that place. An author ofhistorical novels, a historian, and the like create a chronologydirectly as the GUI, thereby being able to extract materials for each ofthe chronologies. Furthermore, according to this invention, a statementof accounts can be created directly as the GUI for selecting acondition. According to this invention, the statement of accounts iscreated directly as the GUI so as to promptly seek materials concerninga corresponding item of account, thereby being able to realize an easyaudit.

As described above, according to this invention, various operationelements, backgrounds, and the like can be freely designed differentlyfrom the conventional folders forming a hierarchical structure in a treeform, thereby being able to design and create unique user interfaces inaccordance with a business operation or an objective. Furthermore,according to this invention, in the case of using the background havingunclear grids, such as a map or a design drawing, time and trouble arerequired to embed the condition selection buttons in those grids.Herein, according to this invention, a screen is partitioned at acertain spacing and classified in each of platting papers of apredetermined area to display the number of files to manage the files,which is defined as a method applied to the existing atlases, so thattime and trouble required to assign the condition selection buttons canbe omitted.

As described above, this invention is based on a totally new conceptsuch as the user interface in accordance with business-operationcontents or creation of an idea about management of the businessoperation by the user interface.

As described above, this invention can be arbitrarily modified withoutdeparting from the scope thereof.

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a save screen displaycontrolling section for displaying on a display section a save screenfor saving a file to a predetermined saving section; a first conditionspecifying section for specifying a condition to be assigned to the filevia the save screen displayed on the display section; a save processingsection for assigning each condition assigned by the first conditionspecifying section to path information of the file and for saving thefile to the saving section; a seek screen display controlling sectionfor displaying on the display section a seek screen for seeking anddisplaying the file saved to the saving section; a second conditionspecifying section for specifying a condition of the file as a seekobjective via the seek screen displayed on the display section; a seekprocessing section for recognizing the path information of the filesaved to the saving section, as such a condition set as allowing aselection sequence to be changeable and as having each condition set toan arbitrary selection item, the seek processing section for seeking foran objective file corresponding to a calculation result of the conditionset based on a condition specified by the second condition specifyingsection; and a result display controlling section for displaying on thedisplay section the objective file as a seek result by the seekprocessing section.
 2. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the save screen is provided with a first keyword-onlyoperation element for specifying as a condition a keyword arbitrarilyset by a user, wherein the seek screen is provided with a secondkeyword-only operation element for specifying as a condition a keywordcorresponding to the first keyword-only operation element displayed onthe save screen, wherein the save processing section assigns as acondition a keyword registered in the first keyword-only operationelement, specified via the first condition specifying section, to thepath information of the file, and saves the file to the saving section,and wherein the seek processing section seeks the objective filecorresponding to the computation result of the condition set, based on akeyword as a condition registered in the second keyword-only operationelement, specified via the second condition specifying section.
 3. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the firstkeyword-only operation element and the second keyword-only operationkeyword both have such a fixed keyword registered therein, asuninfluenced by a time factor and such a movable keyword registeredtherein, as influenced by a time factor.
 4. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the save screen is provided witha first management time-only operation element for specifying as acondition a management time of the file, wherein the seek screen isprovided with a second management time-only operation element forspecifying as a condition a management time corresponding to the firstmanagement time-only operation element displayed on the save screen,wherein the save processing section assigns as a condition a managementtime registered in the first management time-only operation elementspecified via the first condition specifying section, to the pathinformation of the file, and saves the file to the saving section, andwherein the seek processing section seeks the objective filecorresponding to the calculation result of the condition set, based on amanagement time as a condition registered in the second managementtime-only operation element specified via the second conditionspecifying section.
 5. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 4, wherein the first management time-only operation element andthe second management time-only operation element are respectivelyconfigured with such a plurality of time divisions as arranged inparallel and as specifying a range of the management time.
 6. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein themanagement time is defined as an update time of the file.
 7. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the savescreen is provided with a deselection-only operation element forspecifying a condition for displaying all files as the seek resultregardless of specification of the management time by the firstmanagement time-only operation element, wherein the save processingsection assigns as a condition a predetermined character string to thepath information of the file according to selection of thedeselection-only operation element via the first condition specifyingsection, and saves the file to the saving section, and wherein the seekprocessing section seeks as the objective file a file having the pathinformation assigned with the character string, regardless of themanagement time as a condition registered in the second managementtime-only operation element, specified via the second conditionspecifying section.
 8. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 4, wherein the save screen is provided with a non-display-onlyoperation element for specifying a condition for preventing display of afile as the seek result regardless of specification of the managementtime by the first management time-only operation element, wherein thesave processing section assigns as a condition a predetermined characterstring to the path information of the file according to selection of thenon-display-only operation element via the first condition specifyingsection, and saves the file to the saving section, and wherein the seekprocessing section excludes the file having the path informationassigned with the character string from seek candidates regardless ofthe management time as a condition registered in the second managementtime-only operation element, specified via the second conditionspecifying section.
 9. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the seek screen is provided with a non-display resetoperation element for redisplaying the file excluded by the seekprocessing section from the seek candidates based on the characterstring assigned to the path information.
 10. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the save screen is provided witha first type-only operation element for specifying a type of the file asa condition, wherein the seek screen is provided with a second type-onlyoperation element for specifying as a condition a type corresponding tothe first type-only operation element displayed on the save screen,wherein the save processing section identifies as a condition anextension registered in the path information of the file based on a typeof the file registered in the first type-only operation element,specified via the first condition specifying section, and saves the fileto the saving section, and wherein the seek processing section seeks theobjective file with reference to the extension registered in the pathinformation of the file, based on a type of the file as a conditionregistered in the second type-only operation element, specified via thesecond condition specifying section.
 11. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the save processing sectionassigns information indicating existence of a second file to beattached, to the path information of the first file, and saves the firstfile to the saving section while saving the second file to a specificsaving area in the saving section.
 12. The information processingapparatus according to claim 11, wherein the seek screen is providedwith an attachment-attached file-only operation element for seeking forthe first file attached with the second file, and wherein the seekprocessing section seeks the first file according to selection of theattachment-attached file-only operation element via the second conditionspecifying section.
 13. The information processing apparatus accordingto claim 1, handles each of sent and received emails as an independentfile, saves an email file to the saving section, and includes an emailscreen display controlling section for displaying on the display sectionan email screen for seeking and displaying the email file saved to thesaving section, wherein the save processing section assigns eachcondition specified for the email file by the first condition specifyingsection, to the path information of the email file via the email screendisplayed on the display section, and saves the email file to the savingsection, and wherein the seek processing section seeks an objectiveemail file corresponding to a calculation result of a condition set viathe email screen displayed on the display section, based on a conditionspecified by the second condition specifying section.
 14. A filemanagement method comprising the steps of: controlling and displaying ona display section a save screen for saving a file to a predeterminedsaving section; specifying a first condition to be assigned to the filevia the save screen displayed on the display section; assigning eachcondition specified at the first condition specifying step to pathinformation of the file and saving the file to the saving section;controlling and displaying on the display section a seek screen forseeking and displaying the file saved to the saving section; specifyinga second condition of the file as a seek objective via the seek screendisplayed on the display section; recognizing the path information ofthe file saved to the saving section, as such a condition set asallowing a selection sequence to be changeable and as having eachcondition set to an arbitrary selection item, and seeking an objectivefile corresponding to a calculation result of the condition set based ona condition specified at the second condition specifying step; andcontrolling and displaying on the display section the objective file asa seek result at the seek processing step.
 15. A file management programexecutable by a computer, comprising the steps of: controlling anddisplaying on a display section a save screen for saving a file to apredetermined saving section; specifying a first condition to beassigned to the file via the save screen displayed on the displaysection; assigning each condition specified in the first conditionspecifying process to path information of the file and saving the fileto the saving section; controlling and displaying on the display sectiona seek screen for seeking and displaying the file saved to the savingsection; specifying a second condition of the file as a seek objectivevia the seek screen displayed on the display section; recognizing thepath information of the file saved to the saving section, as such acondition set as allowing a selection sequence to be changeable and ashaving each condition set to an arbitrary selection item, and seeking anobjective file corresponding to a calculation result of the conditionset based on a condition specified in the second condition specifyingprocess; and controlling and displaying on the display section theobjective file as a seek result in the seek process.
 16. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the save screen isprovided with a first management time-only operation element forspecifying as a condition a management time of the file, wherein theseek screen is provided with a second management time-only operationelement for specifying as a condition a management time corresponding tothe first management time-only operation element displayed on the savescreen, wherein the save processing section assigns as a condition amanagement time registered in the first management time-only operationelement specified via the first condition specifying section, to thepath information of the file, and saves the file to the saving section,and wherein the seek processing section seeks the objective filecorresponding to the calculation result of the condition set, based on amanagement time as a condition registered in the second managementtime-only operation element specified via the second conditionspecifying section.